Preview — A Murder of Quality
by John le Carré

Stella Rode has written two letters to the Christian Voice's problem column: the first was a tip for preparing pastry; the second declares that her husband may be planning to kill her. And by the time George Smiley is handed the second letter, Stella is already dead. Travelling to the old, cloistered institution of Carne ScAlternate cover edition for ISBN13: 9780340554449.

Stella Rode has written two letters to the Christian Voice's problem column: the first was a tip for preparing pastry; the second declares that her husband may be planning to kill her. And by the time George Smiley is handed the second letter, Stella is already dead. Travelling to the old, cloistered institution of Carne School, Smiley discovers that neither the very respectable people of the school nor the murder are as straightforward as they appear.

A MURDER OF QUALITY is an ingenious mystery - with all of le Carré's unmatched skill for deft plotting - and a wry, intelligent commentary on class warfare of a particularly bloody kind....more

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Popular Answered Questions

This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Did Le Carre' ever bother to explain why Stella Rode sent the letter to Miss Brimley? Chalking it up to coincidence feels weak. Why was Smiley at Carne in the first place? Because of the letter. Seems like an important plot hole left unaddressed. (hide spoiler)]

Community Reviews

Le Carre's first book was not so much a spy novel as a detective story with spies in it, and this second book is even less a spy novel: it is a detective story with George Smiley in it. But that does not prevent A Murder of Quality (1962) from being a well-written, entertaining book.

In an introduction to a paperback edition issued almost thirty years after its original publication, le Carre wrote that “rereading the book now, I find a flawed thriller redeemed by ferocious and quite funny socialLe Carre's first book was not so much a spy novel as a detective story with spies in it, and this second book is even less a spy novel: it is a detective story with George Smiley in it. But that does not prevent A Murder of Quality (1962) from being a well-written, entertaining book.

In an introduction to a paperback edition issued almost thirty years after its original publication, le Carre wrote that “rereading the book now, I find a flawed thriller redeemed by ferocious and quite funny social comment.” I think that is an accurate assessment. Some of the social comment targets the non-conformist Christian communities of the laboring class, but the most ferocious—and most amusing—satire is reserved for the upper-class English boarding school, which the author pillories for its cruelty, its insularity, and its snobbishness. Le Carre knows whereof he speaks, for he attended Sherborne in Dorset (which he loathed) and taught briefly at Eton (which he regarded with ambivalent respect).

The mystery—the murder of a young master's wife who is on record stating that her husband is trying to kill her—has enough thrills to keep the pages turning, but the real charm of the book is in its treatment of upperclass English education. But I was surprised and also pleased to find the atmosphere enriched by a very gothic character: a crazy woman named Jane who lives in an abandoned medieval church.

A Murder of Quality although an enjoyable book is nothing special. But it was the calm before the storm: le Carre's next book would be The Spy that Came in from the Cold....more

A dog that had not bitten the postman; a devil that rode upon the wind; a woman who knew that she would die; a little, worried man in an overcoat standing in the snow outside his hotel, and the laborious chime of the Abbey clock telling him to go to bed.

In this second book in the George Smiley series, Miss Brimley calls him because she is concerned about a letter she received for the small publication, The Christian Voice where a woman named Stella (Glaston) Rode writes that she fears her husbA dog that had not bitten the postman; a devil that rode upon the wind; a woman who knew that she would die; a little, worried man in an overcoat standing in the snow outside his hotel, and the laborious chime of the Abbey clock telling him to go to bed.

In this second book in the George Smiley series, Miss Brimley calls him because she is concerned about a letter she received for the small publication, The Christian Voice where a woman named Stella (Glaston) Rode writes that she fears her husband is going to kill her. Ailsa Brimley used to work with George Smiley years before and she wanted him to check into this before going to the police. One phone call and George discovers that the murder has already been committed. Even though it takes place in Carne, where his ex-wife grew up and where her family still live, he feels compelled to go and is urged to do so by Ailsa Brimley.

Thus begins A Murder of Quality and the story grips you and carries you along through to the end. It is centered on a boy’s school and brings with it many different characters, plus spouses, plus boys in the school, plus extras.

John Le Carré is truly a master of his craft. As I mentioned, this is his second book and it was published in 1962. This novel is so polished, professional, and gripping, it kept me up until the wee hours to find out not only who committed the crime, but why. And the author delivers. When I say professional, I don’t mean it is stuffy or formulaic in any way. It means instead that the pacing is perfect, the story is absorbing, and the quality of the writing is exceptional. It’s very hard to believe that his first book had only been written the year before. My respect has expanded accordingly.

It is a pleasure to recommend this book, and I am delighted that I still have 7 more in this series to look forward to!...more

I haven't exactly rushed to read John le Carré's books, but whenever I've gotten around to it, I'm always glad I did!

The man can write. He's not the best. It's not all perfect, but it's damn good. The words just flow. The plots are solid. The characters feel like real people, which is sometimes a knock on mystery/crime writers. Carré spends more time rounding out his characters than your typical who-dun-it writer. Sometimes that means the action slows down and the intensity slackens, but that'sI haven't exactly rushed to read John le Carré's books, but whenever I've gotten around to it, I'm always glad I did!

The man can write. He's not the best. It's not all perfect, but it's damn good. The words just flow. The plots are solid. The characters feel like real people, which is sometimes a knock on mystery/crime writers. Carré spends more time rounding out his characters than your typical who-dun-it writer. Sometimes that means the action slows down and the intensity slackens, but that's all right. A change of pace is good!

A Murder of Quality goes old school. Literally, this is about the students, professors and institution of an exclusive boy's prep school. Think Eton. Tradition and having "the right stuff" are of paramount importance. The school has standards to maintain and by god they WILL be maintained!

Does that mean certain individuals, who are just too individual, need to be permanently removed like a blot might be scrubbed away? Former intelligence officer George Smiley is discreetly on the scene to discover what he can.

Smiley is a central figure in many of Carré's books. He's a likable old chap. Sensible, smart and crafty, and rather unassuming. No, not at all pompous. You root for him to take it out of the windbag or bring the snooty character down a peg. Without being overtly charming or particularly outstanding in any way, it's amazing how easily you suddenly find yourself rooting for Smiley.

This low-key character blends into the background of this equally low-key book, and yet you still pull for him from the edge of your seat by the end. A Murder of Quality is another book of quality by Carré!...more

All this time I had been clear in my mind that George Smiley was a spy master and that John le Carré writes spy novels. A Murder of Quality, the second novel in the George Smiley series, blew both of those assumptions away completely. While you could argue that Smiley is technically a spy, he's retired from the service. When his friend and former colleague from their days in the intelligence services, Ailsa Brimley, receives a paranoid letter from a subscriber to her magazine, The Christian VoAll this time I had been clear in my mind that George Smiley was a spy master and that John le Carré writes spy novels. A Murder of Quality, the second novel in the George Smiley series, blew both of those assumptions away completely. While you could argue that Smiley is technically a spy, he's retired from the service. When his friend and former colleague from their days in the intelligence services, Ailsa Brimley, receives a paranoid letter from a subscriber to her magazine, The Christian Voice, the wife of a schoolteacher claiming that her husband intends to kill her. Brim is determined to make sure she investigates the claim from such a loyal subscriber and so she goes to the only man she knows who can advise her: George Smiley.

There are no spies here, no moles, no cold war, no double-cross at Checkpoint Charlie. This is a straight up murder mystery, but one that sets up Smiley's understated detecting capabilities perfectly: a murder committed exactly as in the letter but the husband has a solid alibi. Luckily, Smiley has a tenuous connection with a colleague of the husband and sees an opportunity to take advantage of the rules of politeness and invite himself down to the school to have a poke around. Before long Smiley and the local detective are secretly working the case together: Detective Inspector Rigby the official side of the investigation and Smiley the eyes and ears in the school itself – asking the questions in a way that the police never could.

Of course Smiley's going to solve the case, that's never in doubt. And, while the story is your typical murder mystery, le Carré never really plays into that trope of letting the reader play along and pit themselves against the detective. Instead he seems to want you to just sit in for the ride, watching Smiley's methods, learning how he operates. To some extent it feels like a primer for the Smiley we can expect in the rest of the novels, but that also felt like the skill of the novel. At no point did I really want to compete with Smiley, I was enjoying the novel too damn much......more

My husband is quite a fan of John LeCarre and convinced me that I should read this one. It is a small novel (146 pages) compared to his later books of 300 or more pages and a little mystery instead of a cold war spy novel. Not being the greatest fan of a mystery novel (I tend to read them too fast, or peek at the ending - because I can't stand the suspense -- or I'm up until the wee hours of the morning because I can't go to sleep until I find out "who did it"), I was surprised how much I enjoyeMy husband is quite a fan of John LeCarre and convinced me that I should read this one. It is a small novel (146 pages) compared to his later books of 300 or more pages and a little mystery instead of a cold war spy novel. Not being the greatest fan of a mystery novel (I tend to read them too fast, or peek at the ending - because I can't stand the suspense -- or I'm up until the wee hours of the morning because I can't go to sleep until I find out "who did it"), I was surprised how much I enjoyed this one, managed to read it slowly and thoroughly enjoyed the author's writing. I think I enjoyed LeCarre's writing even more than the mystery.

Example: "Smiley himself was one of those solitaries who seem to have come into the world fully educated at the age of eighteen. Obscurity was his nature, as well as his profession. The byways of espionage are not populated by the brash and colourful adventurers of fiction. A man who, like Smiley has lived and worked for years among his country's enemies learns only one prayer: that he may never, never be noticed. Assimilation is his highest aim. He learns to love the crowds who pass him in the street without a glance; he clings to them for his anonymity and his safety. His fear makes him servile --- he could embrace the shoppers who jostle him in their impatience, and force him from the pavement. He could adore the officials, the police, the bus conductors, for the terse indifference of their attitudes.

"But this fear, this servility, this dependence, had developed in Smiley a perception for the coulour of human beings; a swift, feminine sensitivity to their characters and motives. He knew mankind as a huntsman knows his cover, as a fox the wood. For a spy must hunt while he is hunted, and the crowd is his estate. He could collect their gestures and their words, record the interplay of glance and movement, as a huntsman can record the twisted bracken and the broken twig, or as a fox detects the signs of danger."

Description: A public school in the early 1960s. When the wife of one of the masters is found bludgeoned to death, Smiley, out of loyalty to an old friend, finds himself investigating her death - an investigation that lifts the lid on a world of hidden passions and murderous hatreds.

Description: A public school in the early 1960s. When the wife of one of the masters is found bludgeoned to death, Smiley, out of loyalty to an old friend, finds himself investigating her death - an investigation that lifts the lid on a world of hidden passions and murderous hatreds.

GEORGE SMILEY:3* Call for the Dead(1961)CR A Murder of Quality3* The Spy Who Came In from the Cold(1963)The Looking Glass War3* Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy(1974)3* The Honourable Schoolboy(1977)4* Smiley's People (The Karla Trilogy #3) (1979)TR The Secret Pilgrim

3* The Constant Gardener3* A Delicate Truth5* The Night Manager...more

[3.5] One of those curious book coincidences that seem to happen more often than they statistically should: here it's a surprising similarity of plot and causation with another crime novel I read overlapping this one - had no idea before starting each book that the topic would be involved in either of them. Fifteen years and the best part of five hundred miles, not to mention the gulf of the post-war British class system separate the stories, but ultimately it came down to the same thing. (view[3.5] One of those curious book coincidences that seem to happen more often than they statistically should: here it's a surprising similarity of plot and causation with another crime novel I read overlapping this one - had no idea before starting each book that the topic would be involved in either of them. Fifteen years and the best part of five hundred miles, not to mention the gulf of the post-war British class system separate the stories, but ultimately it came down to the same thing. (view spoiler)[A female character was murdered by a gay man severely affected by society's homophobia. One victim entirely blameless, the other a blackmailer. (hide spoiler)]

This is a novel about snobbery and sexual repression at least as much as a simple murder-mystery; though the characters were so very, repetitively, obsessed with the minutiae of class distinction that it started to seem déclassé, more like social-climbing Hyacinth Bucket than landed gentry and their cousins. But then I wasn't around in 1962 to know what it was like. The only one whose outlook on the matter rang true was a "bony, virile" spinster who breeds dogs [code for probable lesbian, I suppose], who at one point says Stella Rode may have been damn bad form, but she did a lot for my refugees...One of the few wives who really did anything...Busy little creature, didn't mind rolling her sleeves up... You've got to hand it to them, they've got spirit! More sherry, Felix!(re. the refugees: there's a certain irony in 2015 in happening upon a fifty-year-old book in which Hungarian refugees are a minor plot point.)

I'm always benchmarking other thriller writers against Le Carre. A Murder of Quality isn't considered one of his best anyway; at first I thought the narrative pretty good, though the dialogue between schoolboys was hopelessly expository. Then I read William McIlvanney's Laidlaw which brought a whole different order of depth and style to crime writing, and after that returned to this, whence it seemed competent, but philosophically merely scratched the surface.

There was a sort of reassuring cosiness to the setting that made me understand the appeal of Golden Age mysteries. Though I preferred being at this point in time, knowing that The Sixties were about to start unravelling the social-class straitjacket shown here (and attacked, with a certain amount of ambiguity), rather than thinking of the characters going off to war in a while. George Smiley, though, seems a better and stronger character when he's a spymaster: here as semi-amateur detective poking his nose in where he possibly shouldn't, he was inevitably weaker (but it was interesting to see him apologise for himself and get embarrassed - not that he was ever stuck-up).

Despite a recent article in which Le Carre was described as an 'angry old man' I was surprised by the ferocity in his recent afterword to this book: that he would be quite delighted to see the public school system abolished, and after his own dreadful experiences in the 1940s, he says of Sherborne masters, To this day, I can find no forgiveness for their terrible abuse of the charges entrusted to them. I've heard similar from others (although no one I've talked to who went to public school after c. the early 80s had anything like as bad a time). I like Le Carre here for not losing his fire, and for admitting glaring weaknesses: that he still sent his own sons to public school (whilst he was working abroad for the secret service, it was just what people did - but he explains rather than excuses it) and for himself describing this book as 'a flawed thriller'...more

le Carré is supposedly a genre writer, but he's also one of the best British writers of the 20th century, in my opinion. Moreover, he makes it look easy. Unless you stop and pay attention, it just seems like ordinary, good writing. But in reality, he has a gift.

It was a peculiarity of Smiley's character that throughout the whole of his clandestine work he had never managed to reconcile the means to the end. A stringent critic of his own motives, he had discovered after long observation that he tle Carré is supposedly a genre writer, but he's also one of the best British writers of the 20th century, in my opinion. Moreover, he makes it look easy. Unless you stop and pay attention, it just seems like ordinary, good writing. But in reality, he has a gift.

It was a peculiarity of Smiley's character that throughout the whole of his clandestine work he had never managed to reconcile the means to the end. A stringent critic of his own motives, he had discovered after long observation that he tended to be less a creature of intellect than his tastes and habits might suggest; once in the war he had been described by his superiors as possessing the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin, which seemed to him not wholly unjust.

It's hard to find a more lovable genre character than Smiley. You want him as a stuffed animal, to cuddle in bed with on rainy fall mornings.

Rather than an espionage novel, this is a straight murder mystery, with Smiley acting as citizen-detective as a favor to a friend. It's a bit convoluted, and there are character twists which may or may not make sense. It's also a superb snapshot of brutal attitudes about class, and worth reading for that alone....more

Reading John Le Carre's writing is like treating yourself to a fine wine. It is not to be sped through or swigged. His words and passages lend themselves to being slowly consumed and savored.

A Murder of Quality was set in present day when it was published over 50 years ago. Thus the sound of a milk truck chugging from house to house in the early morning hours with the milkman making his front porch deliveries is not out of place. Elevator lifts still boast a uniformed elevator operator, "What fReading John Le Carre's writing is like treating yourself to a fine wine. It is not to be sped through or swigged. His words and passages lend themselves to being slowly consumed and savored.

A Murder of Quality was set in present day when it was published over 50 years ago. Thus the sound of a milk truck chugging from house to house in the early morning hours with the milkman making his front porch deliveries is not out of place. Elevator lifts still boast a uniformed elevator operator, "What floor, please?" As an aside, the price printed on the cover of my copy of this paperback book is fifty cents.

George Smiley, ex-British Secret Intelligence agent, is asked by a longtime friend to look into a matter which turns into a murder most foul. In this particular tale, there is no espionage, no spies, nary a mole to be ferreted out. It is a simple murder mystery, told by the master. ...more

Started off brilliantly but ended with a whimper, as the ending felt contrived and unrealistic. I think as the author himself put it not bad as a social satire but weak as a thriller.

The story starts when a colleague of Smiley contacts him to help with a letter she has received from a reader of the magazine she edits. As Smiley gets more involved all the great ingredients you find in le carre`s book are there - great characters minutely observed, a taste for the depressing england of the post wStarted off brilliantly but ended with a whimper, as the ending felt contrived and unrealistic. I think as the author himself put it not bad as a social satire but weak as a thriller.

The story starts when a colleague of Smiley contacts him to help with a letter she has received from a reader of the magazine she edits. As Smiley gets more involved all the great ingredients you find in le carre`s book are there - great characters minutely observed, a taste for the depressing england of the post war period, and finally an intricate problem that Smiley progressively gets closer to solving. Also the environment of the public school captured wonderfully (based on the authors time at Eton as a teacher). What just wrecked the whole thing for me is that the actions of the victim in the book were completely inconsistent, with the first 100 or so pages presenting one type of person and in the last 40 pages presenting the complete opposite. I suspect I am too thick to get it and maybe the different depiction was yet another reflection of the snobby hideous characters. Who knows, I would it give it a miss....more

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:A public school in the early 1960s. When the wife of one of the masters is found bludgeoned to death, Smiley, out of loyalty to an old friend, finds himself investigating her death - an investigation that lifts the lid on a world of hidden passions and murderous hatreds.

John le Carré's thriller stars Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley, Geoffrey Palmer as Terence Fielding, Marcia Warren as Ailsa, Sam Dale as Inspector Rigby, Geoffrey Streatfield as Stanley Rode, Amanda LaFrom BBC Radio 4 Extra:A public school in the early 1960s. When the wife of one of the masters is found bludgeoned to death, Smiley, out of loyalty to an old friend, finds himself investigating her death - an investigation that lifts the lid on a world of hidden passions and murderous hatreds.

'A Murder of Quality' is the second in the George Smiley series and is a straightforward murder mystery set in a private boy’s school which makes it an anomaly given the other books are set in the world of espionage and spying. I suspect it is also something of a footnote when compared with the more famous and celebrated books that came in its wake.

However, 'A Murder of Quality' is still well worth reading. Beautifully written and expertly plotted, it also takes a razor sharp scalpel to snobber'A Murder of Quality' is the second in the George Smiley series and is a straightforward murder mystery set in a private boy’s school which makes it an anomaly given the other books are set in the world of espionage and spying. I suspect it is also something of a footnote when compared with the more famous and celebrated books that came in its wake.

However, 'A Murder of Quality' is still well worth reading. Beautifully written and expertly plotted, it also takes a razor sharp scalpel to snobbery and the British class system, and has a pleasingly authentic and complex psychological dimension.

As with 'Call for the Dead', the first George Smiley novel, part of what is so marvellous about this book is how John le Carré allows the reader to enter Smiley’s mind and the slow, deliberate machinations as he grapples with complex problems.

And despite a lot of low reviews, this book really says a lot about British 'culture' when it comes to the public school, a place where boys (or girls) are introduced to their place in society. Really, that's how this book reads and le Carre is not a big fan of it. The condescension of the 'betters' to the 'lower classes' just reeks through every page, and the descriptions of personalities who exist only when there's an audience, wow, is so current to what's happening in today's woWhat a book...

And despite a lot of low reviews, this book really says a lot about British 'culture' when it comes to the public school, a place where boys (or girls) are introduced to their place in society. Really, that's how this book reads and le Carre is not a big fan of it. The condescension of the 'betters' to the 'lower classes' just reeks through every page, and the descriptions of personalities who exist only when there's an audience, wow, is so current to what's happening in today's world. Written in the early 60's, so much of the societal factors and the reasons people do what they do - it rings as clearly as if it were written in 2017.

A woman writes to the editor of a small Christian newspaper, indicating her life is in danger and she fears her husband. The editor passes the information to Smiley, but too late, the woman has already been murdered. Mr. George Smiley goes to investigate. The dead woman was married to a teacher at 'Carne,' a public (private, elite, upper-class) boy's school, but she didn't quite fit in, was sort of a maverick who ignored the societal rules and manners she was expected to uphold. But why was she killed?

This is the kind of book where, at the end, I thought, omg the writer gave us SO MANY CLUES as to why she was killed, so what am I, blind? Yeah, I was. The book has a great many twists and turns, and what you expect to be so - well, it just ain't necessarily so. So there.

I don't understand the low reviews. There are portions of the book which describe personalities we all know from the news - politics, entertainment, the media, etc. - which have always been with us, but who often fool us with their exterior selves. He mentions many times that we never really know anyone, that the nicest folks can conceal the worst parts of themselves. In that manner the book isn't merely a mystery with a former spy as the central protagonist/investigator, it's a deeply nuanced psychological study as well.

It's one of those books I want to re-read. I don't find too many of those. ...more

This is another George Smiley story in the series by an excellent writer. In this book George Smiley who is retired from the British Secret Service, is called by an old friend, Ailsa Brimley of a small newspaper to investigate a troubling letter she received from a worried reader. It claims that her husband will kill her. Smiley goes to this very proper distinguished boys’ school, Carne School, and finds that he is already too late and that she was dead.

Smiley immerses himself with the professoThis is another George Smiley story in the series by an excellent writer. In this book George Smiley who is retired from the British Secret Service, is called by an old friend, Ailsa Brimley of a small newspaper to investigate a troubling letter she received from a worried reader. It claims that her husband will kill her. Smiley goes to this very proper distinguished boys’ school, Carne School, and finds that he is already too late and that she was dead.

Smiley immerses himself with the professors and locals and listens and learns about them and the community. As he uncovers their secrets and hatreds, he solves the mystery. Smiley is such a likable, smart and unassuming character. It’s a lot of fun to read this series. It is an enjoyable book for mystery lovers....more

With another slow start from Le Carré, and my husband's pronouncement that he didn't like the book at all, I had a really hard time getting into A Murder of Quality and I was nervous about what I'd find. At the end of it all, I think I enjoyed the book a lot more than my husband did…but it's still something of a disappointment.

Like Le Carré's first book, A Murder of Quality has the same problems for me as a) a book placed in time before my birth and b) a book set in England—and in the English boWith another slow start from Le Carré, and my husband's pronouncement that he didn't like the book at all, I had a really hard time getting into A Murder of Quality and I was nervous about what I'd find. At the end of it all, I think I enjoyed the book a lot more than my husband did…but it's still something of a disappointment.

Like Le Carré's first book, A Murder of Quality has the same problems for me as a) a book placed in time before my birth and b) a book set in England—and in the English boarding school system, at that—putting it outside of my common cultural context. I do think that most of it is reasonably clear from context, but it does require a little mental translation. Less enjoyable is the casual sexism/misogyny that permeates the book.

Though I think that Le Carré often has both an incisive and pitiless eye when it comes to people in general, there's definitely a greater sense of compassion and empathy when it comes to his male characters than his female ones. And, aside from the characters who clearly have no good use for women, there's enough inferential condemnation and failure to present any of the female characters in the same sympathetic light of all the male characters that it can only be authorial, especially since Call for the Dead had the exact same issues with women and a wholesale condemnation of marriage.

Sadly, to some extent, I feel like this is the price of admission to a book written in the 60's, and, even more so, for a Le Carré novel. So, putting that aside…

It took 22 pages for me to really get into the book. This is definitely different from Call for the Dead and, I assume, the other Smiley books in that it isn't really a spy novel or a thriller at all; it's a rather straightforward English mystery. Mysteries basically go one of two ways; either the author lays clues like breadcrumbs throughout the narrative, giving the reader a chance to put the pieces together ahead of the big reveal at the end, or authors withhold key information, making it impossible for the reader to put the pieces together themselves. I feel like A Murder of Quality tries to have it both ways.

That is, there are definitely clues dropped all the way along, some of them more obvious than others, Le Carré also withholds strategic pieces. For me, this meant that, although I had a reasonable idea of who the end killer would turn out to be, I couldn't pin down means or motive or even if I was right about the killer until the big confession scene at the end.

For the most part, the journey itself was enjoyable. Academia seems to be much the same, regardless of country. I liked how Le Carré pit characters' opposing viewpoints and unreliable narration against each other to disguise important information. As I said before, I think Le Carré has the same eye he ascribes to Smiley in understanding people, even at their worst, and I think it's his greatest talent as a writer. Unfortunately, it's not quite a powerful enough talent to make this lackluster mystery work.

Personally, I don't enjoy mysteries where the author withholds the important information in an attempt to stay ahead of his reader. It feels like cheating; an author who doesn't trust his skills of camouflage to either a) keep his reader guessing or, if not b) make the journey enjoyable enough that the reader doesn't care that they figured it all out ahead of time. The fact that Le Carré does dispense certain clues while holding back on others, connecting the pieces only at the end gave me exactly that feeling of a rigged game where only the House can win. Moreover, the fact that all the pieces are only connected in the last dozen or so pages of the book, after the excessively slow wind-up, makes the ending feel sloppy and rushed; P.T. Barnum rushing his circus attendees out the egress before they can see the wires and trap doors and costume zippers.

In one sense, it's hard for me to dissect how much A Murder of Quality suffers for age; as a kid and teen, I read any number of 'old' mysteries in this same secretive vein—hell, all the Sherlock Holmes mysteries are a variation on this theme—and there are still current authors who write this way. It's a legitimate means, even if I don't like it personally. But I don't think any amount of forgiveness for the story's age can make up for the rushed and inadequately resolved ending. This is still one of his early books, though. Hopefully, Le Carré will improve on both his faults and his strengths as he goes on....more

I have started a small project to read my way through all the George Smiley novels. There are 9 of them including the one released just this year (2017) that I will get to eventually. Many of the earlier ones I read at or around the time they were released, but, for most of them, that is several decades ago and my memories are fuzzy, to say the least. In fact, if I am honest, I can't remember if this one is one I read or whether this was my first reading of it! With memories that vague, I thinkI have started a small project to read my way through all the George Smiley novels. There are 9 of them including the one released just this year (2017) that I will get to eventually. Many of the earlier ones I read at or around the time they were released, but, for most of them, that is several decades ago and my memories are fuzzy, to say the least. In fact, if I am honest, I can't remember if this one is one I read or whether this was my first reading of it! With memories that vague, I think I should consider it my first reading even if it actually isn't.

We think of George Smiley as a spy and of the novels he is in as spy novels. The first in the series (Call for the Dead) does have spies in it, but it is not a spy novel. It is a detective novel set in an espionage environment. This second novel does away with the spies and is a pure detective novel. This is because the first in the series saw Smiley leave the service for "retirement" so he is now a gentleman of leisure free to assist a friend who receives are mysterious letter.

The mysterious letter is from a woman who believes her husband is planning to kill her. Then she is murdered. Needless to say, it is not simple to find out whether it was her husband who did it and Smiley's work to uncover the killer and their motive is what the book is about. As I say, it's a detective novel.

In fact, reading this in 2017, when there is a plethora of detective stories on the television, it is hard not to think that you are actually reading Morse or Lewis or Shetland or .... My wife loves these TV programmes (and reads all the books, too), and this novel sits alongside them as a short but well-told murder mystery that gradually uncovers people's dark, hidden secrets. There are never any happy people in a detective novel!

It is a very quick read - just 147 pages. But it gives us a clearer idea of who Smiley is, fills in some background about his failed marriage and is fun to read. Next up is The Spy Who Came In from the Cold which is the novel that shot Le Carre to international fame (and really is a spy novel, albeit one in which Smiley has a very insignificant part). ...more

I just checked this out from the library for some light reading during a trip, thinking it was the only Le Carre I hadn't read--only to discover a few pages into it that I had read it after all. So, I read it again.

I'm a real fan of Le Carre's spy novels (especially "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy,.." and "The Night Manager," most of which handily transcend the genre and wrestle with deeper issues in much more sophisticated ways than do the works of any other writer of spy fiction save Graham GreenI just checked this out from the library for some light reading during a trip, thinking it was the only Le Carre I hadn't read--only to discover a few pages into it that I had read it after all. So, I read it again.

I'm a real fan of Le Carre's spy novels (especially "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy,.." and "The Night Manager," most of which handily transcend the genre and wrestle with deeper issues in much more sophisticated ways than do the works of any other writer of spy fiction save Graham Greene. To read a Le Carre is akin to engaging in an all-night conversation with a learned colleague of subtle wit and rare insight into the human condition and its body politic. The conversation proceeds slowly and sometimes leaves you leaning forward in your chair wishihg you had listened with greater attention. But it almost always rewards you with a richer (though usually less optimistic) understanding of life than you had when you began.

This book (e Carre's second novel), along with "Call for the Dead" (his first), are less vintage Le Carre than mature Agatha Christie--they introduce characters that will inhabit future Le Carre works, and they benefit from the same merciless scrutiny of British social mores and ills as do his spy novels, but otherwise they are both solid mystery tales, witty and fun to unravel. This one is about the dark underbelly of an elite boarding school, investigated with as much attention to detail as the gruesome death of a teacher's non-conformist wife.

If you're interested in Le Carre (and you should be, if the current world politics at all trouble your sleep), then this is a good place to start, not at all as ponderous and dense as his later work, but just as engaging....more

The second book in the George Smiley series is another intriguing mystery. Miss Brimley, editor of a small Christian newspaper, receives a letter from Stella Rodes, a long-time subscriber, asking for advice. Stella is the wife of an assistant master at the Carne School and she claims her husband wants to kill her. Brimley contacts her friend Smiley and shows him the letter. His preliminary check into the matter finds the woman has already been brutally murdered. Using his personal connections wiThe second book in the George Smiley series is another intriguing mystery. Miss Brimley, editor of a small Christian newspaper, receives a letter from Stella Rodes, a long-time subscriber, asking for advice. Stella is the wife of an assistant master at the Carne School and she claims her husband wants to kill her. Brimley contacts her friend Smiley and shows him the letter. His preliminary check into the matter finds the woman has already been brutally murdered. Using his personal connections with Carne, he goes there in a private capacity and begins peeling back the layers of the complicated public school culture. Smiley is a very interesting character--physically nondescript and often overlooked but possessing great intellect and insights into human nature which help him sniff out the truth. ...more

I love le Carré so much that I put off reading this, because a domestic murder mystery seemed too pedestrian for my favorite espionage novelist (probably favorite novelist). Luckily, he concerns himself with many of the same themes, as evidenced by this quote about Smiley: "Making his way through the Carne streets, he reflected for the hundredth time on the obscurity of motive in human action: there is no true thing on earth. There is no constant, no dependable point, not even in the purest logiI love le Carré so much that I put off reading this, because a domestic murder mystery seemed too pedestrian for my favorite espionage novelist (probably favorite novelist). Luckily, he concerns himself with many of the same themes, as evidenced by this quote about Smiley: "Making his way through the Carne streets, he reflected for the hundredth time on the obscurity of motive in human action: there is no true thing on earth. There is no constant, no dependable point, not even in the purest logic or the most obscure mysticism; least of all in the motives of men when they are moved to act violently." There was an unpredictable twist, and a neat and tidy ending, both worthy of more famous "mystery" novelists. This early novel doesn't reach the heights of his unparalleled later work, but it was a very satisfying read....more

At least a 3.5 in actuality; contains much to like about it, including Le Carre's acidic portrayals of British public school and provincial upper crust life, an atmospheric encounter with a madwoman in a ruined church that could have come from a folk horror tale, and a somber ending with a final paragraph that is quietly devastating. However, as opposed to the first novel, which was a fusion of noir and espionage featuring Smiley as a de facto 'detective' in the mode of Marlowe or Spade, this isAt least a 3.5 in actuality; contains much to like about it, including Le Carre's acidic portrayals of British public school and provincial upper crust life, an atmospheric encounter with a madwoman in a ruined church that could have come from a folk horror tale, and a somber ending with a final paragraph that is quietly devastating. However, as opposed to the first novel, which was a fusion of noir and espionage featuring Smiley as a de facto 'detective' in the mode of Marlowe or Spade, this is much more along the lines of the old-school 'whodunnit', and while Le Carre deconstructs the conventions of the genre, how much mileage one ultimately gets from this book depends upon their appreciation for that type of mystery. ...more

I absolutely adored this short murder mystery by John le Carre. It's the second book starring spy-master George Smiley, although, similar to Call for the Dead, there is no spy-work involved.

Smiley travels to a boarding school to investigate the brutal murder of a teacher's wife. She was working class, had simple tastes and was famously disliked by the other faculty members and their wives. What follows is a by-the-numbers investigation but Le Carre's writing really brought the setting and its chI absolutely adored this short murder mystery by John le Carre. It's the second book starring spy-master George Smiley, although, similar to Call for the Dead, there is no spy-work involved.

Smiley travels to a boarding school to investigate the brutal murder of a teacher's wife. She was working class, had simple tastes and was famously disliked by the other faculty members and their wives. What follows is a by-the-numbers investigation but Le Carre's writing really brought the setting and its characters to life.

I won't give any more away, but I'd thoroughly recommend this one....more

I did not love this book. There is some beautiful descriptive writing. But the plot turns on the victim’s improbably wicked personality. I found it implausible. Straightforward blackmail would have been motive enough. Overdone. On to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold . . .

Nice, short murder mystery that is book two for George Smiley. He is asked to look into a murder at a public school where being the wrong type of person can you killed. All pretty non-taxing but beautifully written. Can tell a great story and love George.

Although he is probably best known for his Cold War era spy novels, "A Murder of Quality" is one of his earlier books - the second in the George Smiley series.

A London detective, retired civil servant George Smiley is described by one of his colleagues: "He looks like a frog, dresses like a bookie, and has the brain I'd give my eyes for". The unassuming and easily forgettable Smiley takes us along with him on his journey to discover the murderer and it is thisJohn le Carré is a terrific writer.

Although he is probably best known for his Cold War era spy novels, "A Murder of Quality" is one of his earlier books - the second in the George Smiley series.

A London detective, retired civil servant George Smiley is described by one of his colleagues: "He looks like a frog, dresses like a bookie, and has the brain I'd give my eyes for". The unassuming and easily forgettable Smiley takes us along with him on his journey to discover the murderer and it is this journey that makes this book so special.

The murder occurs at Carne, an elite English boarding school for boys. The wife of one of the Master teachers is viciously killed.

Along the way to discovering the murderer, we become immersed in the English educational/church society studying contrasts between the haves and have nots. We learn the sometimes sad truths behind the illusions of wealth and power: faded dreams, compromises made, and less than desirable alliances formed to maintain the status quo.

Le Carré's characters are colorful, well-developed, and believable. The dialogue is sophisticated and subtle, with a clever but gentle cynical eye toward long established institutions.

His books, this one no exception, deal with important social issues. They are presented so naturally and eloquently through the characters' interactions and through Smiley's observations, it's almost as if this knowledge is absorbed by magic. Of course it is le Carré's writing talent, artistic ability, and his keen wit that makes the magic happen.

It is a sad book. Smiley doesn't take murder or those involved in it lightly. He understands complexities and is a thoughtful man. Le Carre makes him so.

Every time I read a novel by LeCarré I feel a little confused and a bit overwhelmed at first. But I have learned to slow down relax and enjoy each wonderful tale. It is worth the extra effort and slower pace to be so richly rewarded....more

I started reading John le Carre because I became interested in spies. Not those with fancy gadgets but those who work in the dark, not drawing attention to themselves, carefully collecting intel and coding their messages. But after this book, I have to say I love his writing style, and I would read anything he writes, spy novel or not.

This book is about a murder, no espionage.

Smiley having quit his job after getting fed up with his idiot boss a book ago is asked by a friend to investigate a murI started reading John le Carre because I became interested in spies. Not those with fancy gadgets but those who work in the dark, not drawing attention to themselves, carefully collecting intel and coding their messages. But after this book, I have to say I love his writing style, and I would read anything he writes, spy novel or not.

This book is about a murder, no espionage.

Smiley having quit his job after getting fed up with his idiot boss a book ago is asked by a friend to investigate a murder.

I like that Smiley is not your average dashing hero, he's fat, he wears large glasses and looks like a fool. Even his personality isn't the alpha male type that we've all grown tired of, he's quiet, he observes, he doesn't draw attention to himself. This is a master spy at work.

Ben is also an intriguing character who doesn't appear but gets 2 memorable quotes:

"If Ben said Smiley was all right, that was good enough for him—or almost. But Ben had said more than that.“Looks like a frog, dresses like a bookie, and has a brain I’d give my eyes for. Had a very nasty war. Very nasty indeed.”Well, he looked like a frog, right enough."

"As soon as I arrived I handed your letter over to the CID man in charge of the case—it was Rigby, as Ben had supposed: he looks like a mixture of Humpty-Dumpty and a Cornish elf—very short and broad"...more

Inspired by a talk on the flow of non fiction to fiction by amazing writers, journalists and ex intelligence consultants at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival I started on the classic British spy / crime series by John La Carre.

A Murder of Quality is the second George Smiley book. It's a gentle yet eerie view of elitist private boy schools in England. He has beautifully captured the snobbishness and small mindedness that kept such institutions both respected and feared for generations.

He paiInspired by a talk on the flow of non fiction to fiction by amazing writers, journalists and ex intelligence consultants at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival I started on the classic British spy / crime series by John La Carre.

A Murder of Quality is the second George Smiley book. It's a gentle yet eerie view of elitist private boy schools in England. He has beautifully captured the snobbishness and small mindedness that kept such institutions both respected and feared for generations.

He paints a small remote town covered in snow coexisting with raven like, black uniformed mass of schoolboys and their masters. There is a ravine between town and gown as he describes it. And amongst this strained situation someone is murdered.

We view everything through the clear and inquisitive eyes of the middle-aged and rotund Smiley. He is not the glamorous or flamboyant Bond like spy. He is the opposite. He is the invisible-in-a-crowd Everyman that all people trust. It pains him to dig through this misery and mystery but loyalty forces him to.

I loved the view of post war Britain and the insight it gives into how the mind of a spy works and how values have changed over the years. I want to know what Smiley did next and have ordered the next one :-) ...more

John le Carré, the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born 19 October 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), is an English author of espionage novels. Le Carré has resided in St Buryan, Cornwall, Great Britain, for more than 40 years, where he owns a mile of cliff close to Land's End.

“It was from us they learnt the secret of life: that we grow old without growing wise. They realized that nothing happened when we grew up: no blinding light on the road to Damascus, no sudden feeling of maturity.”
—
11 likes